DOMINIQUE DE VILLEPIN: POMO POLITICIAN
From a Restroom Wall:
"The Frenchman treats the text as a lonely man treats an inflatable doll. First, he reconstitutes it with his own hot air. Then he masturbates on it."
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, adopted Friday, 8 November, 2002, contained the paragraph, "...the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations."
Colin Powell and Jack Straw struggle on. They grow impatient. They wag their fingers and look incredulous. They employ logic and reason. They insist that language has fixed meanings; that UN resolution 1441 meant what it said. They try and try and try to present arguments and evidence. They keep referring to the language of 1441, as if citing words like "immediate disarmament" or "serious consequences" has real and consensual meaning. They touchingly seem to believe that by reading aloud the actual language of the unanimous resolution they will persuade and convince. The French, however, are more sophisticated. Citing the words of the very resolution they negotiated and agreed to, is to no avail, because Dominique de Villepin and the French do not subscribe to the notion that language has fixed meaning, that truth exists, that lies are contradictions of the truth. M. de Villepin is a typical product of the advanced education offered in French lycees where the reigning intellectual gods are Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard and Lacan. For these thinkers, 'truth' has no solid reality, it is merely an expression of power relations. It is entirely subjective. Meaning is indeterminate and changeable. Power dictates meaning. These sophisticated, post-modern thinkers regard themselves as Heisenbergian intellectual practitioners of the principle of indeterminacy. Thus, M.de Villepin has written a best selling history that explains Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was really a glorious victory for La France. His intellectual background makes him well suited for his role in denying the reality our less sophisticated President must face.
With thought processes like these, the French elites should be very comfortable as Islamism and sharia law overtake their benighted country.
If power determines the meaning of statements why do we bother with these UN pipsqueeks at all?
Keep fighting the good fight Mr. Horsefeathers!
Posted by: Craig on March 9, 2003 08:30 AM